When Ozzy Osbourne took the stage at Villa Park in Birmingham for his farewell Back To The Beginning concert on July 5, 2025, few realized how close he had come to never performing again. Seventeen days later, the legendary Black Sabbath frontman would pass away, but not before giving one last, unforgettable performance that left both fans and the Prince of Darkness himself in tears.
The concert was a grand celebration of a career that defined heavy metal, featuring tributes from the biggest names in rock—Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, and Tool among them. It was a gathering that symbolized not just the end of Ozzy’s journey but also the immense respect he commanded across generations of musicians.
Now, in an excerpt from his posthumous autobiography Last Rites, Ozzy opens up about the months leading to that final show, the health scares that nearly took his life, and the one song that broke him onstage. The passage captures a man who, despite everything, refused to let illness, pain, or time rob him of his final connection with his audience.
Fighting Death to Stand on Stage Again
By the time the Back To The Beginning concert was announced, Ozzy’s body had already endured more than most could survive. Since his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2019, he’d battled pneumonia, blood clots, and a near-fatal bout of sepsis. “It really was touch and go,” he wrote. “At my age, with Parkinson’s and all the other shit that’s going on, I had as much chance of surviving as winning Love Island.”
Behind the scenes, his family feared the worst. Sharon, his lifelong partner and rock, later admitted that she and their children believed he wouldn’t make it through. “They sat at the bottom of the stairs and sobbed their hearts out,” Ozzy recalled. Yet, even with odds stacked against him, the singer pushed through two grueling months of antibiotics and IV treatments, somehow finding the strength to recover.
That comeback became his motivation. He knew his time was limited, but if he could stand on that stage one last time, he would do it for the fans who had stood by him for over five decades. “I thought it was game over,” he said. “But somehow, I bounced back. I wasn’t done yet.”
The Song That Broke the Prince of Darkness
When Ozzy finally stepped onstage at Villa Park, the moment carried an emotional weight unlike any other in his career. The crowd of 42,000 roared as the curtain lifted, welcoming him home to Birmingham—the place where Black Sabbath began more than half a century ago. Backstage, old faces from the band’s early days greeted him, including road crew members and his longtime wardrobe assistant, Marta. For Ozzy, it felt like time folding in on itself.
The set began powerfully with “I Don’t Know,” “Mr. Crowley,” and “Suicide Solution.” Everything flowed smoothly until the opening chords of “Mama, I’m Coming Home” rang out. “That’s Sharon’s song,” Ozzy admitted. “One of her favorites. Lemmy wrote it with the two of us in mind.” At that moment, the full weight of his life—the love, the battles, the years—hit him all at once.
His voice wavered as tears filled his eyes, but he carried on, channeling his emotion into every line. The song that once symbolized coming home to Sharon became his farewell to everyone he loved—his family, his band, and his fans. It wasn’t just a performance; it was a goodbye in the purest sense.
Facing the End With Humor and Grace
Even as he reflected on his mortality in Last Rites, Ozzy remained defiant in spirit, his trademark wit and raw honesty intact. He dismissed rumors of a “suicide pact” between him and Sharon as “bullshit,” clarifying that they simply agreed they didn’t want their final moments prolonged by machines. “If that happens to me,” he told her, “turn me off—or fly me to Switzerland, give me one final sip of the jolly juice, and send me out like a Viking.”
He also shared his wish for his remains—not to be cremated, but to be buried. “Cremation feels like you were never here. You’re just a bag of dust. That’s not for me. I wanna make the flowers grow,” he said. Even in death, Ozzy wanted to give something back to the earth that gave him his start.
As the world prepares for the release of Last Rites on October 7, Ozzy’s final words serve as both reflection and farewell. His music, his madness, and his humor continue to echo louder than ever—a reminder that even when the Prince of Darkness sheds a tear, it’s for a life fully lived and a legacy that will never fade.
